An effective coach handles indidvidual players differently on his team.

Look at what adversity did for Eller. He is a completely different and more confident player than he was last year.

Look at the improvements of Subban after being on the 3rd pairing.

Sometimes a leader understands that you need to have players prove their worth which in turn increases their worth. Keep the players hungry and not complacent.

Therrien 2.0 is a dramatic improvement over the 1.0 version.

I have a hard time with this. Don't get me wrong, I think Therrien did a great job. But I disagree that he's the one that merits the credit for what PK and Eller are showing.

PK had already proven himself effective of shutting down top opponents. This wasn't new. This kid had tremendous talent and was already putting it to use in previous years. I doubt PK left last year thinking he needed to work on nothing, that his game was perfect. He even said during the interviews how hard he had practiced all summer. I'm sure Therrien and JJ are coaching him things as he goes, but he was already a solid player and he would have had the same success elsewhere imo. Heck, even under a moronic and clueless duo last year with RC-RL, he still managed to look good!
PK's 3rd line pairing was stupid. So was having him on the 2nd PP wave with Bouillon.
The only reason he was moved up was because Diaz got injured as well. It's not because they somehow noticed a change and felt he was ready. Diaz gets injured, PK gets a lot more icetime and responsibilities, and there you have it, he looks as solid as ever.
The way we used him early one was a waste. A waste of our best player. He never had any issues being placed in a high pressure situation, he actually responded very well to it. So, this isn't new, and if you look at how this kid has developed over his years since Juniors, then you'd know this guy improves well and fast.
So again, not surprising, and I don't think Therrien should get that much credit for him.

Same for Eller. I will give Eller all the merit in the world. This kid has been forced out and pushed aside consistently. Even Therrien did it. The whole team plays like crap in game one, but Eller is the one that gets scratched. I mean, we were all very impressed by Armstrong and Moen (just to name 2), God knows they deserved to be there over Eller.
Anyways, kid works hard, comes back. One game he plays 10min, the next 15, back to 12, to 17, plays on the wing, at center, on the 4th line, on the 3rd line. Eller's played some great minutes for us on the PK last year too, he had become very reliable there. A position he was very comfortable with. Well, that was taken away from him and given to less reliable players. This guy was given absolutely every obstacle possible to slow his progression. He sees rookies that have 0 experience and yet, right off the bat, already given better linemates.
I don't think that was the right way to go with Eller. I feel he should have been given better linemates right away, been kept at center, and given PP time (he still doesn't get much of that) as well as regularly used on the PK. I also think that when DD struggled early on, it was a perfect time to move him to the wing and try Eller at centering better wingers (he had earned his right by playing well in the bottom role).

I'll give credit to Therrien for how this team as a whole is prepared and for the rookies. He is a coach so obviously, every player is taking something from him, but in PK and Eller's case, I credit the individuals a lot more and it's not even close.